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X-Plane Assignment 1

15 points

Nathan Tyler Rose

Last edited 5 days ago by Hunter Hall.

Overview

Generated by Coda AI

This assignment requires students to answer questions about interpreting METAR information, runway usage, and the effects of headwind and crosswind during flight. They must set up a flight simulator, then record and upload screen recordings of two stabilized circuits with headwind and four with crosswind at varying speeds for runway 28. Tips for flying in these conditions are provided. Deliverables include a completed PDF of the document uploaded to Brightspace, along with the recordings from specified tasks, which should be titled appropriately and uploaded to the same platform.

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Tasks

Task 0 - Questions

Answer the following questions. Some questions can be answered after completing the assignment.

General

KLAF 100213Z AUTO 27005KT 10SM SCT027 OVC031 18/15 A2982 RMK AO2 T01830150

When reading the winds in the METAR above, what is the wind direction and speed?

Direction is directly west (270 degrees) @ 5kts.

If you are standing with your back to the west, on which side of your body will you feel the wind given in the above METAR?

On my back.

Which runway at KLAF should we use?

Runway 28.

Headwind

When flying into a headwind (relative to calm conditions), what considerations do I need to make for:

Turn into crosswind leg will be harder to stabilize, due to wind on the starboard side. Downwind leg should be quicker. Turn to base leg will have wind to port side, once again posing stability problems. Speed may be reduced on final approach.

Is landing with a headwind easier than in calm conditions? Why?

No. The aircraft is more inclined to pitch up, so leveling out to land will be more difficult. Additionally, the speed reduction may make it harder to maintain the altitude you’re aiming for that would be appropriate for the distance to the runway.

In a short paragraph, compare landing with a 5 kts vs 20 kts headwind. Be sure to discuss airspeed, ground speed, descent angle, power input, and landing roll distance.

Crosswind

Define these techniques:

Side Slip: Pointing the rudder away from the wind and the aileron into the wind in order to counteract crosswind effect on a centerline approach.

Crab: Angling the aircraft with more orientation to the wind, so that though the angle the aircraft points seems counterintuitive, the wind resistance will force the aircraft to keep straight along the centerline.

When flying into a left-quartering crosswind and using the crab method:

Which single control input (and direction) do I use to align the aircraft's nose with the centerline?

Left rudder...? Presuming I’m flying straight and not already engaged in crabbing into the wind already.

What happens to the aircraft if all other control inputs are null? Include direction.

The aircraft will drift towards the direction the wind is pushing it. In this case, drifting to the starboard side. The port wing would probably tilt up.

What control (and direction) will counteract the movement described above?

Left aileron and right rudder for the side slip.

In crosswind flight training, your instructor will ask if it's a “sticks in” or a “sticks out” kind of day. What the heck does that mean?!

Apparently the phrase is referring to the action the pilot must do to counteract the crosswind dependent on where the wind is coming from. “Sticks in” implies that the crosswind has some kind of front facing orientation and that the pilot should have the aileron controls facing into the wind. “Sticks out” means the crosswind is coming from behind the aircraft and that the aileron controls should face out of the direction of the wind.

Task 1 - Setup Simulator

Use

Broken link⁠

document to set up the simulator.

Task 2 - Flying with Headwind

Capture a screen recording of this task, title the file appropriately, and upload a copy to Brightspace.

Complete two stabilized circuits for runway 28 with the following wind settings:

Winds 1: 280 @ 5 kts

Winds 2: 280 @ 20 kts

Headwind flight tips:

You will take off earlier than in calm conditions; adjust accordingly.

Your downwind leg will go very quickly; be ready to set up for landing early.

Your power input during approach will differ from that in calm conditions.

Task 3 - Flying with Crosswind

Capture a screen recording of this task, title the file appropriately, and upload a copy to Brightspace.

Complete four stabilized circuits for runway 28 with the following wind settings:

Winds 1: 240 @ 5 kts

Winds 2: 320 @ 5 kts

Winds 3: 240 @ 20 kts

Winds 4: 320 @ 20 kts

Write Up Due to Recording File Corruption

The flights did go well. I learned that it was a lot harder than I thought to maintain alignment on the crosswind and base legs when there was a headwind. Of course, the takeoff and final legs took a while. I actually underestimated the time it would take to reach the runway on the final and cut it close to landing short. The landing was fine though. The bigger problem happened on the crosswind conditions. I totally stalled in the final seconds of landing with the crosswind. The stall happened in the final seconds of landing, so the landing was successful, but essentially an accidental success. I definitely need to practice with sideslip and crab landing methods. My final note would be that I maintained altitude and speed with more ease than I did before. I spoke out loud to give myself call outs on the altitude and airspeed. Not sure if that would be considered unorthodox...but it worked for me.

Crosswind flight tips:

Watch the video below:

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